Brand New Day

I'm taking a break from lyrics and politics with this month's post of a guitar noodle. My general approach to this kind of recording is to sit down with an idea and play around with it and just let it go where it wants to go. I placed it in the "Country-Western" category because there are a couple of string twangs that seem to be suggestive of that genre.

Bass
You have put your finger on a dilemma for me - whether to go back and add bass to earlier productions .. or leave them be (now that I have acquired a bass guitar). A big part of the problem is there are literally hundred of candidates that could use some attention. My general inclination is to leave them alone. Often, aware of the missing part that is usually integral to "rock" music, I would approximate bass presence by playing lines on the lower strings of my six string guitar (or adding synthetic bass on a keyboard). I think I will leave this one alone. Early on I drop down to riff on the lowest strings to suggest the bottom; I think that will have to do. As always, I appreciate your feedback.

I always mean to ask
Do you play harmonic leads beside one another or is your signature sound done with effects? Finger work is on display here. Your work always has a sense of an unfamiliar scale. That might just be the harmonics but it is what I have always found interesting right from the start. This brings me back to your walk compositions. ravi Shankar surf music. Big smile and a chuckle as well. Clever Mr Smith!!

The answer is "Yes"
Generally, I will double-up the guitar riffs using multiple tracks where the applied effects are purposely a little different to create variation in the sound. These riffs are played separately which produces subtle differences. Also, I might try to add harmonic variations or alternative readings to those riffs. Ultimately, I rely on my ear to decide whether the combinations are working or not. It all remains experimental : )

Born in a Minnesota blizzard, I'm now residing in a coastal heat of Brooklyn, New York City.
I recorded my first original composition as a teenager using a reel-to-reel tape recorder back in 1967, and I'm still finding it a creative challenge... [see more]

Country music, also called country and western music or country-western, is an amalgam of popular musical forms developed in the Southern United States, with roots in traditional folk music, Celtic Music, Blues, Gospel music, and Old-time music.
Howe